The tree species varied by location and quantity of
moisture. On the top of hills where there was a dryer
habitat, a prevalence of shade-intolerant oaks and
hickories, especially white oak, red oak, and shagbark
hickory dominated. On the steeper rocky slopes, a mixture
of sugar maple, basswood, red oak, black oak, and white
oak dominated. In some areas, a coniferous-deciduous
forest occurred with mixed stands of eastern white pine,
juniper, and red cedar intermixed with hardwoods.

Along the flood plains and deltas formed as streams
entered the Mississippi River such as Wexford Creek,
willows and silver maple dominated. Along the stream
banks, basswood, cottonwood, red elm, and walnut
dominated. Where Native Americans had opened up areas,
box elder, Siberian elm, American elm, white ash, walnut,
butternut hickory, and black cherry dominated the early
colonization period.

The early pioneers carefully planted trees for shelter
from the frigid winds of winter and the scorching heat of
summer as well as to enhance the scenic beauty and
increase the value of their farms. The settlers also
planted hardy varieties of fruit trees, ornamental shade
trees and shrubs, such as apple, pear, cherry, grape,
currants, chestnut, buckeye, mountain ash, larch, spruce,
arbor-vitae, and many other European varieties.

D.W. Adams established a nursery in Waukon in 1856, and
through years of trial and error by casting aside as
worthless varieties of winter killed trees and
propagating only acclimated varieties, he succeeded in
establishing some of the best apple varieties in the
country that can be easily grown in this region.

When pioneers in northeast Iowa planned new towns, the
expansion and growth of these cities included careful
planting of shade trees for beauty along the streets and
in homeowners' yards. The most popular and preferred
trees used by most new towns were the tall, graceful
American elms. These wonderful shade trees grow quickly
into large, attractive, vase-shaped trees. In time, the
elm limbs extend across the street and two trees on
opposite sides of the street will provide a shaded canopy
which bridges across the road. The elm crowns would span
across large areas in parks and cover whole sides of
houses.

The downfall of the American elm was the Dutch elm
disease, a fungal pathogen - Ophiostoma ulmi, that
arrived in the 1930's. The elm bark beetle carried the
fungal pathogen from tree to tree causing a rapid series
of infection in a short period of time. The disease
clogged the food and water pathways causing tree death in
only a few years. Waukon, Lansing, New Albin, and other
cities and towns across the country lost the battle and
millions of American elms had to be removed. Where the
beautiful shady elms once stood, there are vast expanses
of open area.

An interesting fact about the elms is that when they
started to show symptoms of the disease, such as
"upper branches losing leaves", the fungal
delicacy morel mushrooms can often be found at the base
of the dying trees. The small, delicious mushroom has a
distinctive rough and rumpled surface with a blackish
color while the larger morels have a rough surface with a
light tan color. The morel mushroom is sought after as an
expensive delicacy across the country and definitely a
delightful treat.

When the first settlers at Wexford picked the location
for the first log church, a number of American elms grew
along the bottomland near where the small fountain of the
Wexford shrine is located. The largest of these was a
large vase-shaped tree approximately 50 years old that
provided wonderful shade. Many of the early churchgoers
used this elm and other trees to tie off their horses
during church services. They would tie the horse's halter
to a branch allowing the horse to feed in a circle around
the tie-off.

There was one bright Sunday morning when Father Laffan
came storming out of the back of the Wexford church with
his white vestments flying and yelled to the tardy church
members who were smoking clay pipes and gossiping in the
shade of the century-old elm. Father Laffan yelled,
"Put out your clay pipes, stop gabbing, and come to
church; God is waiting on you!" The lollygaggers
slunk into church and Father gave an inspiring sermon on
the virtues of punctuality and disgrace of tardiness.

Some people were so taken by the grandeur of the elm that
they wrote a poem to celebrate this giant of elms. It is
published below:

The Wexford Elm
written by John Joyce in July 1904 for the Wexford
Fourth of July celebration

A century plant is that grand old tree

That grows in beauty in Allamakee,

Where the people meet on the Fourth of July

In the Wexford valley beneath the sky,

And celebrate ever the natal day

Of our Republic's imperial sway.

Here, Father and Mother, Daughter and Son

With lovers and Sweethearts when day is done,

Dance by the light of the moon and stars

And think of the life over those golden bars,

That flash o'er the world at early dawn

And light up the rolling hills and the lawn.

The spreading crown of the beautiful elm

Is monarch of all in its emerald realm,

And throws its arms to the sun and the breeze

The great Grand Father of the surrounding
trees,

While it shades the leaping trout in the
stream

And glorifies all like a blissful dream.

Old Wexford Church with its memories dear

To this glorious tree is very near,

While the green graveyard with its precious
dust

Holds many a pioneer faith in trust,

While God in his infinite mercy must

Reward the deeds of the brave and the just.

Brave Mission Fathers in the days of yore

Led by the faithful and generous Hoar,

Assembled their flock beneath the spreading
tree

And there to their God bent the willing knee,

To the power that rules the land and the sea

Imploring the joys of Eternity!!

And so, as the gathering years go by

Under the sun and the bright starry sky,

The devoted people of Allamakee

Will continue to worship and bend the knee,

As they come from the hills, the vales, and
the lea

In the land of the brave and the home of the
free!

I remember a large stand of elm trees that surrounded
the base of the cemetery on the north side between the
church and the Wexford Creek. These tall, shady trees
were the chosen spot for road maintenance crews to take
their dinner break. On a couple of occasions, the crew
was there enjoying the shade at 10 a.m. as I passed by
and then 2 p.m. when I returned home they were still hard
at work under the shady trees. Some people really have a
hard life. They make up for summer rest in the winter
months, especially when driving snowplows through the
night trying to keep the roads open.

The giant Wexford elm was a victim of Dutch elm disease.
Removal of the tree resulted in a gigantic stump that
required a number of grown men holding hands in a circle
to match the circumference of this tree. There was enough
firewood cut up from this tree to last through one winter
and half the next. Red elm makes good fire wood that
burns hot, giving off a lot of heat while burning for a
couple of hours.

It is a shame that the elms have fallen to Dutch elm
disease. The giant elms that once grew along the Wexford
Creek and throughout northeast Iowa are sorely missed.
There is an effort to reestablish the elm trees. A Johnny
Elmseed program is trying to plant a tolerant variety of
the American elm that seems to better resist the Dutch
elm disease. Good luck to this group.

After returning from the Civil War, Tim Madden
raised only a few head of cattle but even these
required quality pastures with plenty of long green
grass and a slight mixture of wild clover, alfalfa,
and native plants to fatten up the cattle. On his
farm, the cattle were herded over a mile down to the
tall meadows where Wexford Creek ran into the
Mississippi River.

This delta received annual topsoil washed down from
upstream that provided ideal growing conditions for
native and introduced plants and grasses. From spring
to fall, the cattle munched on a sea of tall green
grasses and a variety of tasty wild plants. Each
evening, the cattle were brought back to the safety
of the barn and locked in to keep them safe from
prowling wolves, the occasional marauding bear,
hungry Indians, and unscrupulous cattle thieves.

Tim Madden's daily cattle drives were nothing
compared to the long lines of cattle leaving Texas
along the Chisholm Trail, Goodnight Trail, and many
other cattle trails heading toward town with
railheads to ship cattle off to hungry city folks
after the Civil War. Since a herd of cows in a cattle
drive came from a variety of owners, each critter was
branded (burnt with an identification mark into the
hide) and earmarked to identify the correct owner.

The majority of cattle were moved on trails in spring
when grass was available and the weather was
reasonable. A good day on the trail would cover 10 to
15 miles. The era of the cattle drive lasted
approximately 30 years, from just after the Civil War
until railroads reached the south making the trek to
northern markets unnecessary.

A seasoned crew of 12 men could move as many as 3,000
head of cattle. The best of the men were assigned
near the lead cows in front of the line. The cattle
drovers worked in pairs, on either side of the line
of cattle. The remainder of the men worked the hazy
flank and swing positions farther back, with drag men
bringing up the dusty rear. The trail boss rode ahead
of the cattle column to scout for signs of Indians,
look for water and grass, and find a place to camp
for the night. Communication was by hand signals,
adapted from sign language of Native Plains Indian,
or by hat gestures.

A stampede occurred when lightning spooked the herd,
or any combination of sights, smells, or sounds sent
the cattle running. To control a stampede, the
cowboys nearest the front of the herd would turn the
lead cows to the right, forming a circle. Then, the
drovers would bring the rest of the herd into a
smaller and tighter circle, until all the cattle were
moving slowly in a small circle towards the right.

From 1866 to 1895 nearly 10 million cattle were
driven to market via railroad cow towns such as Dodge
City and Abilene, Kansas or all of the way to the
gold fields in California. These trails could cover
over 1,000 miles and often required 12 to 16 weeks of
hard work in the saddle. A herd with several thousand
head of cattle might stretch out one to two miles on
the trail with several natural lead cows taking their
places in front, while all the other cattle fell into
an irregular long line behind.

One of the major necessities of a cattle drive was
the chuck wagon where food was prepared. The chuck
wagon "drawn by oxen or mules" carried
food, utensils and a water barrel, as well as tools
and the crew's bedrolls. The wagon "covered by a
canvas top" contained several drawers, shelves,
and a storage compartment underneath.

There were a number of home remedies for illnesses
along the trail. Coal oil was used for lice.
Prickly-pear poultices helped wounds heal. Flowers
from the bachelor's button plant were used to cure
diarrhea. Salt and bison tallow were used for piles.

The popular 1960's television show
"Rawhide" depicts the hardships of the 1866
cattle drive from San Antonio to Sedalia. The show,
based on the diary of Cattle Drover "George C.
Duffield", with Gil Favor, Rowdy Yates, and the
rest of the cowboys provided a glimpse into the life
of cattle drovers on the trail with a heard of cattle
as they headed for Sedalia avoiding Indians,
stampedes, and cattle rustlers.

Texas fever from the lone star tick Margaropus
annulatus was noticed in Arkansas and Missouri after
cattle from Texas were driven through in the 1850s.
Since the rangy, tough longhorn cattle from Texas
remained healthy and were immune, their role as the
carrier of the disease was not known. When the South
Texas longhorns trailed through, the ticks dropped
off and found local cattle to feed on, transmitting
the deadly disease and killing local cattle. Some
cattle drives from Texas were met with armed mobs in
southeast Kansas, southern Missouri, and northern
Arkansas with a "Winchester Quarantine," in
effect, to keep the disease-carrying cattle out.

In the second half of the 1900s, Allamakee County had
it own authentic American cattle drive with the
annual fall movement of 40 to 100 head from summer
pastures along the lower end of the Wexford Creek to
the winter hay storage at the Conway farm. In late
May the cattle were again driven over six miles from
the farm back into the summer pastures along the
Wexford Creek bottom where Tim Madden had fed his
cattle over 100 years before. The long trip started
in the early morning when all of the cattle were
rounded up and started moving. It would be late in
the afternoon, a good seven to eight hours later,
before the last of the cattle reached the farm.

The cattle started with lots of energy and wanted to
run during the first couple miles. The more mature
lead cows, which had made the journey before, set the
pace. As the day wore on, the cattle traveled at a
steady pace until they reached the two-mile mark
where the first steep hill caused them to slow down
and the slower cows and calves started to lag behind
the main body of cattle. At the four-mile mark, some
of the cattle's tongues started to hang out as they
climbed the very steep hill below Cassidys and
Whittles. The last two miles the herd moved at a slow
steady pace with the front cows doggedly leading the
way and the rest of the herd stretched behind for
over a mile of road.

For most of the trips, we lacked the luxury of horses
to herd the cattle and instead used human foot power
to keep the cattle in check along the trail. In the
fall, the trail started on a well-worn dirt road that
led up the Wexford valley to the gravel road below
the Wexford Church. The four oldest brothers, Jimmy,
Joe, Leo, and Pat, were in front of the moving herd
and at each neighbor's property one or two would be
assigned the guarding and blocking duty to keep the
cattle from going into the neighbor's property. At
Marleys and at Heavy Crows (where Edwards later built
a cabin), one of the boys blocked the driveway as the
herd passed on by. At the base of the Wexford Church
the gravel road veered left, hugging the hillside
heading toward Harpers Ferry for the next mile.

Some of the middle-aged kids, Dan, Mary, Ellen, Hugh,
or Mike, were given the job of blocking the right
side of the gravel road and keeping the cows from
heading toward Lansing. Others guarded the area
around the Wexford Store operated by Mullarkeys and
later by Bobby Jo Hawes. Jimmy or Joe would run way
ahead to warn any traffic on the road of the
slow-moving cattle. Dad brought up the rear of the
herd driving the car with John, Rose, and Ray. Like
the chuck wagon, the car carried three gallons of
water, a drinking cup, snacks, and paper sack lunches
for each of the family members.

Next, the road turned right at the base of the
Wexford rock quarry up a relatively steep hill
(Fitz's Hill) toward Sweet Ridge and a four-mile
stretch of gentle up and down hills with one steep
hill at Cassidys. The boys in front kept busy running
ahead and blocking driveways at Jim Hawes', John
Hawes', Tommy Cassidy's, Virgil Whittle's, Lafayette
School #7, Farley's, Harold Mooney's, and the road
below Joe Kernan's to turn the cattle down our
mile-long lane. At each of the neighbors' farms,
their herd bull would be just on the other side of
the barbed wire fence kicking up grass - bawling and
making a show as the cattle passed on by.

By the end of the trip the cattle and everyone else
were tired, dusty, and ready to take a nice long
rest. The older boys walked and ran over 10 miles by
the finish of the cattle drive. It makes us
appreciate the amount of work that was needed to move
the large herds from Texas. As Jimmy, Joe, Leo, and
Pat were drafted into the Army, the younger ones took
their job in the front of the herd.

The return trip in the spring was the reverse of the
fall trip except on a few occasions the cattle
crossed the iron bridge below the Wexford bridge and
went the long way back up Mullarkey's hill. On these
occasions, the boys blocked driveways at Mickey and
Mary Maddens, Carl Mullarkeys, and Whalens. In the
spring, it was necessary to help some of the young
calves that were less than a month old by giving them
a ride in the station wagon.

On one occasion, Jimmy and Sonja did bring a horse
that helped move the cattle along. The lead cow on
this trip was a veteran of many cattle drives and
knew the way from many previous trips. She picked the
long route up Mullarkey's hill and had a rather tough
time making it up the long gradual rise in the hill
with her tongue hanging out for the last mile. Little
did we realize that this was her last trip and that
she would die later in the spring.

Wexford had other cattle drives as well. George
Delaney would gather a crew with horses and drive his
cattle from pasture along the Wexford Creek to the
old Mullen's farm. It seemed much easier using horses
and saved a lot of shoe leather.

In Ireland, booleying was a system of moving cattle
or sheep to summer pastures on higher ground or
distant moorland. Young folk and sometimes whole
families left the village after planting the crops
and journeyed to the booley area. Small homes were
built using turf or sods and roofed with branches or
heather. A cast iron pot, a few chairs, a churn, and
some household items would have been taken on the
trip.

During the 8th century, the Catholic Church
designated the first day of November as All Saints
Day. It was an occasion of family reunion after
booleying. At the reunion at All Saints Day, when the
sheep and cattle were brought back from the summer
pastures, fires were lit to mark the end of the
period of growth and to herald the new year. By this
time, the crops would have been harvested and the
grass and hay cut and stored for the winter.